Has the pandemic put a damper on your plans?  Looking to roll more than ten days of vacation time over into next year?  You can!  Our contract allows it.  All you need to do is ask permission of your agency.  And permission shall not be unreasonably denied.  Simple as that!

Here is the contract language: No employee may carry over, without agency permission, more than ten days of vacation leave to the next year.  Such permission shall not be unreasonably denied. (Article 18, Section Two).

This only applies to the vacation time you earned this year (not your entire vacation accrual bank); so if you earned 15 days of vacation this year and you only plan to use 2 days of vacation, you may request to carry over 13 days.  We are aware that the State typically does NOT require employees to make this request, but for some unknown reason some agencies have decided to create problems where none has existed before.  Therefore, we are advising everyone who wants to carry an excess of 10 days to make the request.  There is NOT an agreed upon standard form for this purpose (sorry, DRS, you made this form up on your own and we don't accept it) so an email request should be sufficient.

The other option is to use your "excess" vacation (we certainly encourage everyone to take the needed time off), so please request vacation time if you don't want to carry any of it over into next year

[side note: A&R does not agree that the carry-over provision is based on a calendar year rather than a contract year, but the State is applying the calendar year for this carry-over provision]. 

IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY DONE SO - VOTE!!!!

REMINDER:

Elections are Tuesday November 3rd...every polling station in CT is open from 6:00AM to 8:00PM.
Further, any absentee/mail-in ballot that is placed in the "drop-box" by 8:00PM on 11/3 will be counted.

If you aren't registered, you can show up to your town's "EDR" location (Election Day Registration location) and register and vote that same day...so you have not missed out just yet!  You will need to provide proof of identity and proof of residence in that town, so be prepared.

BUT....keep in mind, this election cycle is extremely important to State employees; the State Senate and State Rep candidates elected this year will be voting on your next contract!!!  (it is no longer the same process many of us have experienced before, State statute now requires the State legislature to vote on our contracts)

Do your part A&R, make sure you cast your vote and have your say in this election.  This election will impact you and your family directly.  Don't let this slip by you.  Make the commitment, make the effort, and VOTE.

Where to start with this one....as you are aware, most of the activities from A&R are accomplished through the efforts of volunteers.  We have always been fortunate and grateful to have support from our membership to accomplish everything from training classes at Water's Edge to political activity at the Capitol to social events at the AquaTurf, but as you will see below, we have lost quite a bit over the past month or so and we are looking for more helpers!

A&R 2nd Vice President:  our beloved 2nd Vice President: Janet Andrews (DRS) has taken a promotion and is no longer a member of A&R. 

This year the residents of Connecticut will be electing our General Assembly (Senate and House).  The representatives in the General Assembly is of extreme importance to State Employees as this General Assembly will be the group who votes on our next labor contract...so A&R (with some help from AFT-CT) has vetted the candidates and made our endorsements for candidates who will support our next contract when it comes for a vote in the General Assembly.  A&R does not get involved in national politics, so we took no position on US Congress or the Presidential race...but the State Senators and

Some answers to questions that we have been getting:

Random Answer #1: No - President Trump's Executive Order allowing the deferral of FICA payments (roughly 7.65% for the employee) is not going to be implemented by the Comptroller's Office. The executive order would have allowed State Employees to defer payments into the Social Security and Medicaid systems through the end of the of the year.  This was not a tax break - it was merely a deferral of tax payments - those same payments would have come due during the next year. The Comptroller gave a reason why it won't be implemented for State

September ushers in the beginning of Autumn, local harvest festivals, and our annual service ratings.  The annual service rating is important as it is connected to your Step increase in January.  An "overall good or better" will grant you the Step increase (no rating given will also grant the Step increase).  However, if you receive an "overall less than good" rating you can be denied your step increase ("less than good" = 1 Unsatisfactory mark or 2 Fair marks)

There are also a few procedures surrounding the service rating...of course this year may be a little different than in years past, so here a few things about conducting service ratings this year.

Our service ratings require that the immediate supervisor meet and discuss the rating with the employee.  Due to COVID/teleworking, reviews do not need to be done in person, we will accept a meeting conducted via Zoom/Teams.  If your supervisor wants to meet in person and you are hesitant or unable to do so, please feel free to request a Zoom/Teams conference. 

Also, our service ratings require that the employee signs the document acknowledging that they have seen the document and discussed it.  We will accept an email communication from the employee as acknowledgement of the requirements and the physical signature can be obtained at a later time.

It is still expected that the direct supervisor sign the document prior to review and that the appointing authority also signs the document in a timely manner.

If you receive 1 Unsatisfactory mark or 2 Fair marks, the rating should be contested so please contact a steward (or the A&R Office 860 953 1316 or the A&R Chief Steward Patrick Lamb plamb@andr.org).

Often times, employees are upset that, this year, they were not reviewed as being as stellar as in years past, yet all marks are above the line; in most cases, this is not contestable/greiveable, but you can talk to a steward about it, in some cases there is an unacceptable reason for the downgrade that goes beyond just the supervisors annual assessment.

Lastly, the Top Step Payment is not contingent upon the service rating.